Forsyth Central's Darius Green holds down Lumpkin County's Seth McDonald during the decisive match of the Coal Mountain Classic at North Forsyth High School on Saturday, Dec. 15, 2018.
- photo by David Almeda

David Almeda

FCN staff

Updated:
Dec. 18, 2018, 1:29 p.m.

Forsyth Central wrestler Darius Green stood stared into the
eyes of Lumpkin County’s Seth McDonald on Saturday afternoon, fully aware of
what was on the line.

The 285-pound final he was competing in was the last bout of
the 2018 Coal Mountain Classic at North Forsyth High School. A win by
Green would secure Central the No. 1 team spot, an unlikely outcome for a team
that only sent eight wrestlers to the event due to injuries.

“I was just thinking, ‘I win, we win,’” Green said. “My
coaches before the match, they told me and were like, ‘You’ve got this.’”

Green’s opponent didn’t move very much, and Green took
advantage by going for the takedown. Three minutes into the match, he got his pin,
sending his onlooking teammates and coaches into a frenzy. Central finished
with 134 points for the top spot, and host North Forsyth finished fourth with
124.

“We came into (seeing this) as a test of, ‘What do you do
when the best laid plans go astray?’” Central wrestling coach Jeremiah Walker
said. “If (injuries) were to happen for region duals, how do the guys respond
to adversity? They came in knowing that they needed to score points for their
team as practice for something that you hope doesn’t happen.’ They followed
through, which is a great sign.”

Central was close to not being in that position, though. The
Bulldogs sent four other wrestlers to finals matches, with only Abraham Perez
(126) and Avery Krippner (170) coming away with victories. Keaton Platzke (195)
and Sam Aldrich (152) finished as runners-up in their respective weight classes
by razor-thin margins. Aldirch’s bout with Lumpkin’s Keller Brown could have
gone either way, with Aldrich taking the lead twice before falling 10-9 by
decision. Mikel Stowers (138) secured a third-place spot with a win over
Westminster’s Matthew Cha.

“We had close matches in the finals,” Walker said. “Our
mantra this season against talented wrestlers is (to) keep it close and give
yourself a chance. Even those some of those finals matchups didn’t go the way
that we wanted them to, they did just that.”

The Raiders crowned two champions, Paul Watkins (138) and
Devin Shanyfelt (160), who pinned his opponent in just 39 seconds. Cale Bissell
(132) and Tate Bissell each reached the finals but ended their days as
runners-up. Bentley Wheeler (152) and JC Wilkinson (182) each went through
consolation brackets for third place finishes.

Right after what head coach Travis Jarrard saw as a positive
week for his squad, the results on Saturday leave him longing for a little more
consistency, although his mindset is a positive one.

“We have a lot of positives one week and a lot of negatives
the next week,” he said. “This was one of the negative weekends – a lot of our
younger guys making a lot of mistakes and not doing what they did last week. I
guess that means next week we’ll do good.”